Wary Sept. 11 rites in Iraq

New bin Laden tape puts troops on higher alert

BAGHDAD — U.S. forces went on heightened alert Thursday after an alleged Al Qaeda videotape urged insurgents to turn Iraq into "an American graveyard."

Despite the alert, American troops took time to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a ceremony at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces in his hometown of Tikrit.

"We are the tip of the spear on the global war on terrorism," U.S. Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno told some 150 soldiers.

At another former Hussein palace in Baghdad, U.S. troops held a similar event, with bagpipers playing "Amazing Grace" and lead U.S. administrator Paul Bremer in attendance. Later, as the sun set, a small contingent of U.S. soldiers lit candles and prayed during a somber vigil in Baghdad.

Despite the threats in the videotape, no deaths were reported among U.S. forces, although they suffered several attacks, according to the U.S. military, which did not provide details.

Foreign television crews witnessed an hourlong firefight on a road 45 miles west of Baghdad that began after a U.S. convoy broke down and was ambushed. Three U.S. vehicles were burned, witnesses said, and a crowd chanted anti-American slogans. The U.S. command later reported that at least one American soldier was wounded.

U.S. soldiers endure an average of a dozen attacks daily.

U.S. commanders expressed concern after a tape aired on pan-Arab television late Wednesday night showed Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a mountain retreat.

A voice described as al-Zawahiri's exhorts Muslim fighters to turn Iraq into a battleground. In Washington, U.S. intelligence officers confirmed the authenticity of al-Zawahiri's voice Thursday but were uncertain about bin Laden.

"Clearly, it could stir up some additional activity for us," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. and coalition ground forces in Iraq. "When there's a call of that nature, then we look and focus our intelligence a bit better."

In the Kurdish territory of northern Iraq, FBI agents combed the site of a bombing in Irbil where a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a compound housing U.S. intelligence officials Tuesday.

A high-level Kurdish official said one Iraqi died in the bombing, which injured dozens. U.S. officials said three Iraqis were killed and six Americans injured. No group claimed responsibility.

"Americans were the target," said Karim Sainjari, who held the Kurdish interior post before the war.

Despite the bombing, the fifth major blast in five weeks in Iraq, U.S. commanders insisted that progress was being made by coalition forces. U.S. troops are working on security strategies to reopen Baghdad's airport, which has been closed to commercial traffic since the war. Surface-to-air missiles have been fired at least three times in the last two months at U.S. military aircraft in the area.

"If we can put an end to that, we can open it up," Sanchez said of the airport missile attacks.

Sanchez also denied suggestions that the U.S. military was allowing raids into Iran by the Mujahedeen Khalq, a group based in Iraq that is dedicated to overthrowing the Iranian government.

The Washington Post on Thursday reported that State Department officials suspected such activities were continuing despite the U.S. occupation and the fact that Mujahedeen Khalq is on the State Department's list of terrorist groups.

"Are they continuing to enter Iran?" Sanchez said. "I can guarantee you that is not happening. They are contained."